


De Ja Vu

by the_empty_man



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 15:17:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13169631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_empty_man/pseuds/the_empty_man
Summary: Dr Hilbert’s Lab, some point after Ep 46: Bolero but before Ep 53: Dirty Work"Douglas Eiffel being about to die was nothing unusual, but he had never heard Commander Renee Minkowski sound this vulnerable."





	De Ja Vu

**Author's Note:**

> This was my Wolf 359 Secret Santa for @jackofallfandomsmasterofnone on tumblr.

Eiffel came to in a blurred cloud of his own blood, his mouth full of that far-too familiar metallic taste. His body shuddered as the coughs took hold. Beneath the agony, he dimly felt a strange sensation in his left hand; someone was clasping it so tightly that their nails were piercing his skin. He tried to focus on the shape by the bedside, but his head threatened to explode with the effort. He closed his eyes again and drifted through the pain.

Later, he became aware of a familiar voice, a voice that sounded like home and safety. The voice was saying “A small Hawaiian pizza is $11.99, a medium one is $13.99, a large…”

“What are you doing, Commander?” Eiffel said. Or rather, tried to say, because it came out as an incoherent groan.

“Eiffel, oh my god, you’re awake!” Minkowski’s voice trembled slightly. He looked up at her and briefly managed to focus enough to see the Commander’s pale face and the bags beneath her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Eiffel asked, slowly forcing out the words.

“Well, the Decima virus seems to hav-”

“Yeah, I guessed that,” He interrupted. “But were you reading a pizza menu, or am I hallucinating?”

“Oh, I thought I’d read something you’re interested in, in case you could hear...” Minkowski said, holding up the Dominos leaflet. “Remind you what you’ve got to live for,” she added, half-earnest, half-embarrassed. Eiffel almost laughed, but instead shook with another fit of coughing and choking.

“You’re going to be okay, Eiffel. You’ve got to be okay. I’m here. I’m here. Please…” Minkowski muttered, nearly crushing his hand. Somehow, the terror in her voice scared Eiffel more than the deadly virus coursing through his bloodstream. Him being about to die was nothing unusual, but he had never heard Commander Renee Minkowski sound this vulnerable.

When the coughs subsided, he swore profusely, with as much force as his feeble gurgling voice could muster. He remembered another occasion when he’d nearly died, when Minkowski had jumped into the solar storm to save him. “I **am** going to drown in space!” he said, sounding more indignant than despairing. “In my own blood!”

“We gave you another transfusion of Lovelace’s blood. Hopefully that’ll kick in soon.” She squeezed his hand with an attempt at reassurance.

“No Dr. Frankenstein to cut me open this time,” Eiffel pointed out.

“No, but I’ve been reading his notes.” The steely determination he knew so well had returned to her voice. She gestured to the small black notebooks floating around the lab. “I’ll do whatever I can.” For a while, there was silence other than Eiffel’s tortured breathing.

“Will you promise me something?” he asked eventually, his tone slow and serious as he tried to gather strength.

“Of course, Eiffel.”

“Promise me you’ll make sure I get a proper funeral back on Earth, a real one.” At Eiffel’s use of the word funeral, Minkowski took such a deep intake of breath that it could have seriously disrupted the lab’s oxygen supply. "Make sure there are plenty of people there…” he continued. “Make sure Anne comes.”

“You’re not going to die, Eiffel,” Minkowski said, in her _listen-to-your-Commander_ voice.

“You can’t order me not to die. I’ve never obeyed orders anyhow,” he joked, unable to summon the wry smile he thought his punchline deserved.

A sob escaped Minkowski and her presence at composure broke. “I’m not going back to Earth without you.”

“I need you to speak at my funeral, Commander.”

“What?”

“You know, stand up and say…” He paused, but it was more to try and catch his breath than for dramatic effect. “ _Doug Eiffel, I knew him well._ ” His Minkowski impression was even worse when his lungs were filling with blood. “ _He was an utter- arsehole._ ” He spat out the final word and closed his eyes. The attempt at imitation had exhausted him.

"I can’t even think about that. I can’t think about losing you.” Minkowski said, aggressively, almost yelling. “I'll speak at your funeral in seventy years, after you've died peacefully in your bed! I’ll tell them-” But Eiffel had lapsed into another attack of coughing, more urgent than any before. The air was filling with red droplets. He spasmed violently. Minkowski let go of his hand, grabbed one of Dr. Hilbert’s notebooks and started desperately flicking through. He was convulsing all over.

Amongst the choking sounds, she thought she heard her Communications Officer say “Please, Renee...”

“I promise, Doug. I promise,” she whispered.


End file.
